General Clauses Act: An Overview

The General Clauses Act of 1897 includes general interpretational guidelines as well as "definitions" of a few nouns. In the absence of anything objectionable in the topic or context, this Act aims to give broad definitions that shall be applied to all Central Acts and Regulations in the absence of definitions in those Acts or Regulations that arise with the provisions of the Central Acts or Regulations.

When there is a disagreement between pre-constitutional laws and post-constitutional laws or when there is a lack of clarity in the specific enactments, the General Clauses Act is highly useful. To minimize confusion, the Act provides a clear suggestion for contradictory sections and separates the law according to when it will take effect and how it will be applied.

Objectives of the Act

The Act has several goals, including

• To make Central Acts' language shorter;

• To, as much as possible, ensure uniformity of expression in Central Acts by defining a number of terms that are commonly used; and

• To state explicitly a number of useful guidelines for the construction and interpretation of Central Acts.

• To prevent mistakes and oversights, some common form clauses that should otherwise be included in every central act are imported into each act.

The General Clauses Act's main goal is to consolidate many provisions on word interpretation and legal doctrines that would otherwise need to be detailed individually in numerous Acts and Regulations into a single act.

The General Clauses Act must thus be construed in light of all applicable statutes whether it relates to word meaning or legal principles.

In the case of The Chief Inspector of Mines v. Karam Chand Thapar, the Supreme Court outlined the goal of the Act. It claimed that the goal of this Act was to consolidate several rules on word interpretation and legal principles that would otherwise need to be detailed into a single statute.

Application of this Act

There is no "territorial extent" definition in the Act. Its primary scope of applicability includes all Central legislation, as well as any rules and regulations created according to an Act central. In a way, it is a component of all Central Acts and Regulations. Should a Central if the General Clauses Act is expanded to any region, it would likewise be deemed to be suitable in that region and would be used to build that Central Act.

Critical Analysis

The General Clauses Act's provisions are just principles of interpretation that apply universally in all circumstances. Everything is based on the particulars and circumstances of each instance. Legislation resembling the General Clauses Act is known as an Interpretation Act in various nations. However, because the General Clauses Act's provisions (whether they pertain to word and term definitions and meanings or construction and interpretation) are, to the extent that is necessary, common to every Central Act, the name "General Clauses Act" is equally as appropriate as the name "Interpretation Act." In the absence of specific definitions, the Broad Clauses Act of 1897 aims to offer general terms that will be applicable to all Central Acts and Regulations.

Every Act contains a prologue that describes its intent, purpose, and scope. the law. It is the primary resource for figuring out a legislator's intentions. the Act's rationale. The term "financial year" refers to the calendar year that begins on April Where law does not state that it would take effect on a it will be put into effect the day after it obtains the prescribed approval from the President. Whenever an Act is repealed, it must be treated as though it never existed.

Conclusion

In any regulation, terms importing the male gender must be understood to encompass females, and vice versa for words in the singular and plural. Ex-officio appointments are included in the ability to appoint. Power to appoint also includes the right to revoke an appointment. The deputies or subordinates legitimately carrying out the responsibilities of that office in the absence of their superior are subject to the same laws that apply to the chief or superior of that office. If a law or rule requires that a document be served by mail, then, unless a different purpose is clear, the service shall be presumed to have been accomplished by properly addressing, prepaying for, and mailing the document by registered mail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are the salient features of General Clauses Act 1897?

Ans. Major features of general clauses act are

• Simplify and shorten the language of central acts;

• Attempt to give uniformity of expression in central acts by defining the given terms in simple and common language.

Q2. Referring to the Section 13 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, examine whether a whole time KMP can be appointed in more than one subsidiary company?

Ans. Answer Section 203(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 provides that whole time key managerial personnel shall not hold office in more than one company except in its subsidiary company at the same time. With respect to the issue that whether a whole time KMP of holding company be appointed in more than one subsidiary company or can be appointed in only one subsidiary company. It can be noted that Section 13 of General Clauses Act, 1897 provides that the word ‘singular’ shall include the ‘plural’, unless there is anything repugnant to the subject or the context. Thus, a whole time key managerial personnel may hold office in more than one subsidiary company as per the present law.

Q3. A notice when required under the Statutory rules to be sent by “registered post acknowledgment due” is instead sent by “registered post” only. Whether the protection of presumption regarding serving of notice by “registered post” under the General Clauses Act is tenable?

Ans. Referring to the provisions of the General Clauses Act, 1897, examine the validity of such notice in this case. Answer as per the provisions of Section 27 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, where any legislation or regulation requires any document to be served by post, then unless a different intention appears, the service shall be deemed to be affected by

• Properly addressing,

• Pre-paying, and

• Posting by registered post.

A letter containing the document to have been affected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post. Therefore, in view of the above provision, since, the statutory rules itself provides about the service of notice that a notice when required under said statutory rules to be sent by ‘registered post acknowledgement due’, then, if notice was sent by ‘registered post’ only it will not be the compliance of said rules. However, if such provision was not provided by such statutory rules, then service of notice if by registered post only shall be deemed to be affected.

Furthermore, in similar case of In United Commercial Bank v. Bhim Sain Makhija, AIR 1994 Del 181: A notice when required under the statutory rules to be sent by ‘registered post acknowledgement due’ is instead sent by ‘registered post’ only, the protection of presumption regarding serving of notice under ‘registered post’ under this section of the Act neither tenable not based upon sound exposition of law